This application is based upon Japanese Patent Application Nos. Hei. 11-245942 filed on Aug. 31, 1999, and Hei. 11-245943 filed on Aug. 31, 1999, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to locked-in person saving apparatuses, and particular to a locked-in person saving apparatus for saving a person who is locked in a vehicular trunk.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, when a person is accidentally locked in a vehicular trunk, the person may not be able to escape from the trunk. Therefore, a countermeasure in which a lever linked with a latch mechanism of the trunk is provided to release a latch condition from inside of the trunk has been proposed.
However, in the latch mechanism having the lever in the above, a little child or an infant cannot operate this lever. Moreover, when a person is locked in the trunk, the person may panic so that he/she may not be able to calmly operate the lever.
This invention has been conceived in view of the background thus far described and its first object is to provide a locked-in person saving apparatus for saving a person who is locked in a closed space.
Its second object is to provide a locked-in person saving apparatus for saving a person who is locked in a vehicular trunk without using a mechanical lever.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a detector detects whether a person is locked in a closed space. A closed-space controller outputs a lock release signal when the detector detects that a person is locked in the closed space. A lock releaser releases a lock condition of the closed space in response to the lock release signal from the closed-space controller. According to this structure, since the lock releaser releases the lock condition of the closed space (trunk) by being controlled by the closed-space controller (trunk controller), a person who is locked in a closed space can be saved without using a mechanical lever.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, an operation controller outputs a signal for saving a person locked in a trunk of a vehicle. A trunk open/close switch connected between a power source and the operation controller, the trunk open/close switch being turned on when the trunk is closed and being turned off when the trunk is opened. A power supply unit supplies a power from the power source to the operation controller through the trunk open/close switch only for a predetermined time after the trunk is closed. According to this structure, the saving process to be executed by the control circuit is started or stopped in response to the start or stop of the power supply to the control circuit, instead of using a trunk open/close signal from a trunk lighting lamp. Therefore, it does not need a harness for transmitting the trunk open/close signal from the trunk lighting lamp, and it can reduce the number of the harnesses.